Gasoline tax increase considered

The easiest political solution to raise money to build and maintain state highways might be tying the 20-cent-a-gallon state gasoline tax to the Consumer Price Index so it increases with inflation, a legislator said Wednesday.

Ellis Lucia / The Times-PicayuneRoad widening work on Louisiana 21 on the north shore.

Rep. Hollis Downs, R-Ruston, chairman of a special study group looking at ways to finance highway needs, said toll roads and joint ventures between the state and private businesses for construction are among the other concepts the study group will consider for a Jan. 1 deadline.

Downs said state agencies in general haven't adopted the concept of having the tax go up with the cost of living. When the tax was first imposed in 1984, it should have been indexed then, he said.

Downs' comments came at a meeting of the House and Senate Committees on Transportation, Highways and Public Works, the legislative panels that deal with transportation issues, and the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs, the two panels that deal with financing and tax issues.

The 20-cent-a-gallon gasoline tax has not been increased since 1984. A total of 16 cents of the tax goes to operate the state's general highway construction and maintenance programs; the other 4 cents goes to finance a special highway and bridge construction program, known as the Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development.

Each penny of the gasoline tax now generates about $30 million, and as much as 2 cents of the 16-cent portion of the tax is expected to be used to prop up the TIMED program because original cost estimates were too low and construction costs have spiraled in the past five years.

Department of Transportation Secretary William Ankner said that because of inflation, the 16-cent portion of the tax is now worth about 7.5 cents and the 4-cent portion is worth 1.6 cents, compared with when the tax was implemented.

Motorist also pay 18.4 cents a gallon in federal gasoline taxes in addition to the state's tax -- and Congress is talking about increasing it.

Ankner told lawmakers that in the past 18 months, the state has whittled its backlog of construction projects from about $14 billion to about $12.6 billion. With the federal highway trust fund in financial trouble and state surpluses drying up, Ankner said his agency will not be expanding capacity in the future as much as "going into (highway) system preservation mode."

Rep. Hunter Greene, R-Baton Rouge, chairman of Ways and Means, said although he is not in favor of tax increases "we have to have an honest discussion on how to take care of the backlog. . . . We need to look at every source of possible funding. . . . I just want everybody to keep an open mind" on all alternatives.

Greene said the governor has staked out a no-tax position but legislators could get around that by proposing a revenue measure as a constitutional change. Constitutional amendments cannot be approved or vetoed by Jindal, going from the Legislature directly to voters for ratification.

"We need to get a clear assessment from the executive branch as to what they are going to support, " said Rep. Herbert Dixon, D-Alexandria, a member of the House transportation panel.

"We need to partner with the executive branch but not be dictated to" by the governor, Greene said. He said that while "nobody is chomping at the bit to pay more taxes . . . people in my district are open to that if they get improved roads."

To meet its deadline, Downs said, he will appoint at least six subcommittees to look at various aspects of transportation financing and related matters to expedite the study work.

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Ed Anderson can be reached at eanderson@timespicayune.com or 225.342.5810.